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A review by malaikawrites
Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
adventurous
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Ahhh Candy Land! Seanan McGuire's ability to make so many whimsical, and beautiful, worlds within one universe is truly spectacular. I've found myself intrigued with all the worlds that have been hinted at, and I've fallen in love with all the worlds we've gotten to explore so far in the series.
I will admit that I wasn't sold on this idea when first reading the synopsis for this book. I loved the dark fantasy that came with the settings within the first two books in this series, and I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the characters or writing style in a drastically brighter setting like that of the candy land Confection turns out to be. I also wasn't sold on the more adventure focused aspects of this book, knowing that what I loved most about the first two books was the world-building and the interesting characters. I'm happy to say that despite my slightly lower expectations, I did end up enjoying this book quite a bit.
I wish we had gotten to spend more time on the story being told. It was short and sweet, which makes for a lovely, fast pace read, but some added depth into every new stage in the adventure the characters take us on would've taken my enjoyment to a whole new level.
One fault I should mention is that the pacing seemed a little off with this one and I think the book could've done with more space to really flesh things out so that the story wouldn't feel like it was empty in some places. More depth would've also helped make the areas that felt like they dragged on a bit feel more compelling. This is me nitpicking a bit though, and though it definitely won’t be one of my favourites, it's a very strong addition to the series.
I loved that this adventure was told from the perspective of a new character (Cora, a mermaid from the Land Beneath the Lake) that was just being introduced into the storyline. It allowed for further exploration of the characters that we've already heard of or gotten to know in the first two books. It also gave space for the story to naturally give us more information about the many worlds within the wayward children universe. The cast within these books has always been wonderfully diverse and this book continued with the trend of seamlessly including multiple different types of people without it ever seeming forced or like there was any "token" diversity characters. This book being told from the perspective of a plus-sized character allowed for multiple important conversations around issues that involve fatphobia to be brought into the narrative in a way that didn't feel overly performative. We also got to be introduced to amazing new characters and to revisit some amazing characters from before.
All in all, though this book was my least favourite of the three I've read so far from this series, it was still a book I enjoyed. The settings were perfection yet again and the characters, specifically the wayward children, were all interesting. The links between the children and their worlds were intricately woven into the story to make for a series worth reading. Though this book wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, I would still recommend it and the series as a whole. I can't wait to see what's next!
I will admit that I wasn't sold on this idea when first reading the synopsis for this book. I loved the dark fantasy that came with the settings within the first two books in this series, and I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the characters or writing style in a drastically brighter setting like that of the candy land Confection turns out to be. I also wasn't sold on the more adventure focused aspects of this book, knowing that what I loved most about the first two books was the world-building and the interesting characters. I'm happy to say that despite my slightly lower expectations, I did end up enjoying this book quite a bit.
I wish we had gotten to spend more time on the story being told. It was short and sweet, which makes for a lovely, fast pace read, but some added depth into every new stage in the adventure the characters take us on would've taken my enjoyment to a whole new level.
One fault I should mention is that the pacing seemed a little off with this one and I think the book could've done with more space to really flesh things out so that the story wouldn't feel like it was empty in some places. More depth would've also helped make the areas that felt like they dragged on a bit feel more compelling. This is me nitpicking a bit though, and though it definitely won’t be one of my favourites, it's a very strong addition to the series.
I loved that this adventure was told from the perspective of a new character (Cora, a mermaid from the Land Beneath the Lake) that was just being introduced into the storyline. It allowed for further exploration of the characters that we've already heard of or gotten to know in the first two books. It also gave space for the story to naturally give us more information about the many worlds within the wayward children universe. The cast within these books has always been wonderfully diverse and this book continued with the trend of seamlessly including multiple different types of people without it ever seeming forced or like there was any "token" diversity characters. This book being told from the perspective of a plus-sized character allowed for multiple important conversations around issues that involve fatphobia to be brought into the narrative in a way that didn't feel overly performative. We also got to be introduced to amazing new characters and to revisit some amazing characters from before.
All in all, though this book was my least favourite of the three I've read so far from this series, it was still a book I enjoyed. The settings were perfection yet again and the characters, specifically the wayward children, were all interesting. The links between the children and their worlds were intricately woven into the story to make for a series worth reading. Though this book wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, I would still recommend it and the series as a whole. I can't wait to see what's next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Eating disorder
Minor: Blood and Transphobia